Kevin Durant Wants To Eventually Own NBA Team

Warriors forward Kevin Durant has “serious intentions” of buying an NBA franchise after his playing career ends, league sources tell Chris Haynes of ESPN.com. That desire has intensified since Durant arrived in Golden State, per Haynes.

In the year and a half since Durant signed with the Warriors, he and business partner Rich Kleiman have taken several meetings with existing team owners and tech CEOs to survey the “lay of the land,” Haynes writes. According to ESPN’s report, Durant and Kleiman have been strategic about getting face time with “some of the most influential and innovative business figures in the Bay Area,” with the star forward hoping to eventually join Michael Jordan in the ranks of former players who become team owners.

“This is a genuine goal of [Durant’s] after he retires, to add another African-American in the position of majority ownership,” a source told Haynes.

Durant, who won’t celebrate his 30th birthday until September, still has many years as a player ahead of him — he told Sam Amick of USA Today last week that he can imagine playing until he’s 40. While that means that potential team ownership is still a ways off, it also means Durant could have another decade to increase his career earnings to the point where majority ownership is more financially viable.

Basketball-Reference‘s data suggests that Durant’s career salary after this season will total $160MM+, and that figure doesn’t include off-court earnings like endorsements and investments. The reigning Finals MVP will also be in position this summer to sign a mammoth new maximum-salary contract with Golden State. Based on current cap projections, such a deal would increase Durant’s total career NBA salary to approximately $365MM.

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